WORCESTER — One month after gaining control of the Telegram & Gazette, Boston billionaire John W. Henry put the newspaper up for sale Tuesday, indicating he would like to find a local buyer for the 147-year-old Central Massachusetts publisher.

"I think it's important for the Telegram & Gazette to be under local ownership," he told a gathering of the newspaper's staff in the newsroom Tuesday afternoon. "I have been talking to local people who have expressed an interest. There's absolutely nothing imminent."

Mr. Henry told the newspaper's employees that a potential sale would not happen until 2014 and that it would only be to the "right buyer."

"I think you need a local owner," he said. "A local owner can sit down with advertisers, readers and community leaders and ask for their support. I'm looking for someone with tremendous energy and a passion for this newspaper."

Mr. Henry also said that if he cannot find the right owner, he would keep the T&G.

"This is not a forced sale," he said. "If we don't find the right owner, you're stuck with me."

Mr. Henry was accompanied at the T&G by Christopher M. Mayer, publisher of The Boston Globe. They declined to discuss a possible sale price for the business. Mr. Mayer said a sale of the T&G would not include the Millbury printing plant that the T&G built and opened in 1992.

Dirks, Van Essen & Murray, a mergers-and-acquisitions business based in Santa Fe, N.M., has been retained to seek potential buyers of the T&G, according to Mr. Mayer.

In separate remarks to the T&G's advertising and business staff, Mr. Mayer said he has received calls from interested parties, including "local" individuals and Fairport, N.Y.-based GateHouse Media Inc., a chain of 300 daily and weekly newspapers that is largely owned by the private equity group Fortress Investment Group LLC.

"We are at the very beginning of the process of speaking to people that are interested," Mr. Mayer said.

The T&G is an award-winning regional news organization focused on Central Massachusetts with circulation of 74,000 daily and 78,000 Sunday print and Web subscribers. In addition to its print publication, the T&G publishes news online at telegram.com. The business employs approximately 300 workers.

"The Telegram & Gazette is a great news organization with the best local news report in Central Massachusetts and strong ties with the community. Looking for someone who is well connected to the community, and someone who is familiar with and passionate about Worcester, certainly makes good business sense," said T&G Publisher Bruce Gaultney. "It is good to hear John Henry is focused on finding the right owner for the newspaper."

A sale would be the second within a year for the T&G. Earlier this year, The New York Times Co. put both the Globe and T&G on the market, seeking to exit New England and focus on its flagship publication.

Mr. Henry purchased the businesses, which were known as the New England Media Group, for $70 million.

The Times Co. had purchased the T&G for $295 million in 2000 and the Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993.

City Manager Michael V. O'Brien has indicated some in the local business community would be interested in mounting a bid if Mr. Henry were to sell the T&G. Ralph D. Crowley Jr., chief executive of Polar Beverages, the Worcester-based soda maker and bottling company, unsuccessfully sought to buy the T&G in 2009. Mr. Crowley was out of the office Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.

Michael P. Angelini, chairman of the Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, said he's had conversations with local people, whom he declined to name, who have expressed an interest in trying to buy the T&G in the event the paper would otherwise be closed.

"There are some people whom I've spoken with who are motivated and want to do whatever is necessary to make sure we have a daily newspaper in Worcester," Mr. Angelini said. "I'm certain they would come forward if there was a risk that, in the absence of a local buyer, the Telegram would cease to exist."

Under Times Co. ownership, the Globe and T&G consolidated in recent years to share a number of business operations such as information technology and printing.

The Globe also prints the T&G most days in Boston under contract, and the T&G announced in September it was eliminating 11 advertising jobs and combining most classified advertising call center operations with the Globe.

Mr. Mayer said Tuesday, however, that operations shared by the Globe and T&G could be separated without much difficulty. A new T&G owner could contract with the Globe for certain functions or find other contractors, Mr. Mayer said.

"We could make it where you don't necessarily have to have a newspaper portfolio to be interested in the T&G," Mr. Mayer said.

For Mr. Henry, who is also owner of the Boston Red Sox, the visit to Worcester came after weeks of speculation about his plans for the T&G.

He apologized for not speaking sooner, saying he had hoped to keep quiet the process of offering the T&G for sale.

"I need to apologize for waiting this long," he said.

Before Tuesday's sale announcement, Mr. Henry had not visited the T&G's offices or responded to inquiries from T&G reporters or local business and community leaders.

He penned a 2,800-word opinion piece about his reasons for buying The Boston Globe without mentioning the T&G.

Mr. Henry said that he believes the Telegram & Gazette can best succeed on its own.

"Just as the Globe should not be the little brother or sister to The New York Times, the Telegram should not be the little brother or sister of the Globe," he said.

Contact Lisa Eckelbecker at Lisa.Eckelbecker@telegram.com.
Thomas Caywood and Aaron Nicodemus of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.